"Threats of violence, whether made on-line or not, constitute criminal conduct and will be thoroughly investigated by police ... and if sufficient evidence exists, appropriate action will be taken."

Director of communications law centre at UTS, Professor Michael Fraser told News Ltd that online harassment was assault and that people who had taken part in the hate campaign against Dawson had committed criminal acts.

The Commonwealth Criminal Code of Australia says it is an offense to use ``a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offense". The offense applies when people use the internet and text messages or phone to be menacing harassing or offensive.

"The online world is not above the law," Prof Fraser said.

"The challenge for us is to build security into online society in the same way as we have into the physical world."

Prof Fraser said the police ought to be investigating people to determine the identity of people who have been hiding behind anonymity to behave in an inhumane way.

"It is the role of law enforcement to follow and investigate where there have been instances of cyber bullying or assault online," he said.

The Australian Federal Police told News Ltd that cyber bullying was generally handled by state and territory police who may apply the Commonwealth legislation, as well as their own legislation.

"However, the acceptance of a cyber bullying investigation is a matter for state and territory police," a spokesperson for the AFP said.

"The AFP encourages those who believe they are a victim of cyber bullying or cyber crime, to report it to police.

"Through initiatives such as ThinkUKnow, the AFP works with the private sector to educate the Australian public to conduct themselves safely online.

"Initiatives such as this are essential to combat crime in this increasingly complex and dynamic environment. Further information about the ThinkUKnow initiative is available at www.thinkuknow.org.au."

The AFP could not confirm that they were tracking people involved in the Dawson cyber bullying case and that it was a matter for the states and territories.

NSW Police said they had not been tracking users as it had not received an official complaint regarding the Dawson case.

Twitter has been contacted for comment to find out whether it would be making available the identity of users that harassed Dawson, and whether it would ban users who harass and threaten people online.

Karalee Evans, APAC digital media strategist for creative agency, Text 100 told News Ltd that platforms themselves, such as Twitter Inc and Facebook, needed to address their Terms of Service and operating procedures in addition to state lawmakers in dealing with online abuse.

"Currently, it is difficult for police to gain access to the details behind abusive accounts in order to follow up complaints, and while I support strong privacy laws in maintaining users rights to anonymity, there needs to be a balance to facilitate the process around dealing with, and bringing accountability with abuse," Ms Evans said.

"At the very minimum, Australian law and Police need to catch up with the internet.

"We need to consider the benefits of a users privacy against the need to moderate dangerous behaviour as a community and as a Government, and implement a weighting towards safety, before its too late and we see a tragedy unfold."

The latest incident follows in the wake of a string of arrests overseas.

Earlier this month, a UK teenager was arrested and Welsh footballer Daniel Thomas suspended from his club after both sent abusive tweets to British Olympic diver Tom Daley.

British student Liam Stacey was jailed for almost two months earlier this year for inciting racial hatred on social media via messages he posted about black footballer Fabrice Muamba.

And Take That front-man Gary Barlow earlier this month became the latest in a long list of celebrities and sports stars to bear the brunt of hateful posts when a troll tweeted mocking remarks about his still-born daughter, Poppy.

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